A broken past
by NightmareThunderSocks
Summary: Elena West is the daughter of a dead vigilante. 16 years after the disappearance of The Watchmen, the darkness of the Underworld finally leaves it's first scars on the woman who thought she had escaped from her past. After a meeting with the masked vigilante Rorschach, Elena cannot shake the feeling that she is being dragged into the darkness again. EVENTUAL OC/RORSCHACH ROMANCE
1. Pain

_NOTE: Just experimenting really with this, please review and tell me if I should continue. It's pretty off topic to what happened in the graphic novel/movie, so im pretty much just going with wherever my mind takes me._

_I own nothing apart from the words on the page and the West Family (Elena + Black Angel)_

_"Never compromise_. _Not even in the face of Armageddon_. _That's always been the difference between us"_

-Elena-

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm 21 years old next month, and in all my 21 years of life on Earth, I did not expect to be stuck in a dead end job working the tills at Walmart. I've been writing to you for as long as I can remember; it's funny now thinking about how I always used to talk about what boys I liked, and the bitchy girls who shoved me in the lunch line and took my money. Now I like to write about how much of a failure I am, and no matter how hard I work to get out of this rut I'm stuck in, I see no future for me than this 2 bedroom apartment and the tills at Walmart._

_You've always listened to me haven't you? I don't know where I would be without my trusty friend to write in. You are my only friend in this world, the only person who understands the obsession I have with the vigilantes of the 80's. I'm smiling as I'm writing this; it's ironic to think that my mother was a crime fighter. The 'Black Angel' they called her, more of an anti-hero than a superhero. She knew Rorschach very well, my idol. The man I have been infatuated over for my entire life. I remember the day he was in my house; sitting on my sofa speaking in an urgent voice to my mother, ink blots dancing across his face. I was too young to understand any of the words they were using, but the look of defeat on my mother's face translated well in my 8 year old mind. She was going away again, possibly never to come back. 'Mummy? Shack?,' I croaked. It was at that moment both Rorschach and my mother spun round to where I was standing. Barely a second passed before he walked to the window and jumped out. My mother went out our front door, telling me in a soft voice, 'Go to bed honey, I have business to take care of,' that was the last time I saw either of them. My mother and my hero were never seen by anyone ever again._

I closed my journal and looked at the grubby clock on the wall, 8.45pm it read; time to get ready for the night-shift at Walmart. I looked at myself in the mirror, smiling at my reflection. A few weeks ago I had dyed my hair the whitest blonde I could find, just for a change. I liked it because it shone silver in the moonlight. I scraped my hair up into a messy bun and set about applying some make up. I didn't exactly try hard to go to work, but on the night shift I usually saw people I knew from high school, so my motto is 'it's better to look pretty and poor than ugly and poor'. I snorted a laugh into the mirror, my eyes ice blue and cold. Turning away from the bathroom mirror I walked into my bedroom and pulled on my obligatory Walmart polo shirt. They didn't care what I wore on my bottom half, so I slipped into some dark navy skinny jeans and lace up, lightweight army boots. Walking over to my sofa, I picked up my leather jacket and shrugged into it, before walking out the door and down the steps into the cold winter night.

As I walked down the backstreets, I kept on constant alert but I let my mind wander to my younger days. The few friends I had at school always said that I was like a chameleon, always changing the façade I put on, resulting in nobody really knowing who I was inside. In reality I was a broken girl, who hid behind a mask of cold indifference towards anyone and anything around me. I lived alone in the apartment my mother and I shared, it used to be a safe house for the Watchmen and I dared not move out in case any of them came back. So I guess that's why I'm still there, in the grubby apartment right on the edge of the most criminally abundant part of downtown in this city. I don't know why I'm brave enough to take shortcuts through alleys just to get to work, when I know full well that when the sun sets, the underworld rises.

As if to solidify my thoughts, I rounded a corner and immediately regretted it. A number of drunken men were leaning on the alley wall, one actually urinating up it. I don't think my eyes could have gone any wider, as I realised what a pickle I was in. I couldn't turn back, so I strode forward, eyes focused on the road I could see at the end of the alleyway, completely blocking out the leering, hungry glares of the 4 or 5 men surrounding me. At only 5'4, these men tower over me and my fear seems to make me curl in on myself, making me seem even smaller than I am. I noticed movement on my right, one of the drunks had begun to walk towards me, his eyes roaming over my body.

'Y'alright sweetie,' He smirked, his bloodshot eyes seemed to be undressing me.

'I need t-t-to get to w-w-w-work,' I stuttered, frantically increasing my pace until I was almost jogging, focusing my brain on the quick thuds of my boots. Subconsciously, I began thinking of my options of what I could do if I was attacked. I'm not completely vulnerable, after my mother disappeared, I was visited by Nite Owl for a few months very regularly, and he taught me how to protect myself now I was alone.

The leering man grabbed my arm and quickly, gracefully and with a feral violence I spun my body around, snapping one leg into my chest before throwing it out, connecting with his abdomen. The second he released me I feinted to the side, out of the hungry grasp of the man who had urinated up the wall. The third man grabbed me and he threw me to the floor, scratching at the front of my jeans with grubby fingers. My breath came out in quick shallow gasps as I threw my body around, trying to get him off me with all my might. Everything I had learnt had vanished from my mind, but as the adrenaline pumped through my veins I managed to hook my leg over his neck, reaching with my hand to grab my ankle before squeezing tight. The choking sounds he made were satisfying but short lived, as before I thought I could do any real damage someone had grabbed me under my arms and dragged me backwards with such speed it made me dizzy. Before I could react I was up in a fire exit. I realised my eyes were scrunched shut and I opened them, only to be greeted by the last person I expected to see.

'Holy shit! Rorschach?!' I gasped, reaching out with my hands to touch his face, he couldn't be real. He's dead. He shrunk back into the shadows with a growl and I immediately retracted my hand, cowering into the bars of the fire escape balcony.

'Stupid stunt you pulled there,' he said gruffly, but I barely made sense of his words, I was too mesmerised by the swirling ink blot pattern of his mask. 'Could have been killed. Alleys no place for women. But you fought well,' His praise sang through me, but was cut short as I realised that he did not know who I was.

'It's me. Elena. Black Angel's daughter. Thought you were dead. My mother never came back after she left with you,' I panted, the adrenaline was leaving my body and I began to feel very weak. The way his head snapped up to stare at me was frightening; his body language suddenly became more threatening than I remember seeing him when I was a kid.

'Elena West,' he murmured, as if testing my name on his tongue. I liked the way he said my name, made me feel important. 'You still in the apartment? Not safe. Not safe at all. Bad people killed Black Angel. You showing off your skills will attract bad press from underworld. Not always around to save you,' He said wearily, leaning back against the railing opposite me. 'Go home now. I'll escort you back,'

I stood slowly and followed him down the flights of stairs, my eyes never leaving his figure. He was exactly how I remembered him, and the awe I felt all my life bubbled to the surface and refused to go away. 'Some part of me knew you weren't dead. You're stronger than my mother ever was. But how are you still so young. You should be nearly 60 by now. Wait, don't tell me… magic,' the chatter that came out of my mouth surprised even me, but I felt delirious with both shock at what had happened to me and happiness at seeing my idol.

'Shut up,' he growled, the anger rolling off him at my questions, 'You need to stay silent. Gang members will find buddies soon and they'll try and find you. I think the one you choked might be dead,' his hissed words drew me up short. I killed someone? No, I couldn't have. I'm not strong enough to be able to choke a man twice as big as me.

We had reached the steps of my apartment, and he stood away from me, hands in the pockets of his trench coat. With a sad smile I reached out my hand to shake his, and he took it. He squeezed my hand once before turning away and walking into the night, without a glance back at me once. Sighing, I unlocked the door and walked in, shutting out the night behind me. The tears started rolling down my cheeks and the sobs racked through my chest.


	2. Regret

Rorschach

-Walter-

Elena West. Her mother teamed up with me after Nite Owl became too soft for what we were going to face. Black Angel was beautiful (the animal growled at me, upset that I had even used the word beautiful, let alone used it to describe a woman), she was a lithe killing machine with skills that were greater than most, if not all of the vigilantes I had ever come across. I don't know why I'm sat here, thinking about the woman that was the closest thing to a friend I had back in those times. My past is just fragments, it is a book with pages ripped out, so I never know the full details of what happened all those years ago. The first and only time I saw Elena was in her own home, I was sat on her sofa, speaking urgently to her mother. Trying to convince her to leave with me, to track down and find the man we had originally teamed up to kill. His name escapes me. I remember her quiet, timid voice say, 'Mummy,' and then after a short pause, 'Shack,'. I guess she was referring to me, but her sleepy, childish mind couldn't wrap around my name. Seeing Black Angel's daughter was painful for me; I was trying to convince her mother to leave her family behind to come with someone she only knew as a man in a mask. I rose from the chair and turned on my heel, throwing myself out of the window onto the fire escape below. I knew Black Angel would follow me, she always did. What I didn't know was that this would be the last time she would ever see her daughter, and it was my fault entirely.

As I sat and thought about Elena, I realised how much she looked like her mother. Elena had a heart shaped face and ice blue eyes, the exact replica of Black Angels. It hurt me to look into them on that fire escape, because their beauty just reminded me of the woman I owe my life to, and that angered the beast. He longed to snap that pretty little neck, end her life so she could no longer remind me of my broken past. Her hair was not like the Angel's, I assume that she had dyed it, because as a child her hair was brown. The animal bubbled inside me as I thought about how the disgusting men had clawed at her jeans, trying to pull them down to satisfy their sick desires. I also remembered how she had fought back; kicking the first man with such force he flew several feet backwards. I tried to not intervene until I knew she needed my help for certain, but I wasn't quick enough to stop her from choking and killing one of the gang members. It was stupid of me to leave her for so long to fight, because now they know her face, know the colour of her hair and the ice blue of her eyes. She is completely oblivious to the danger she is now in. She is so easily recognisable in the street because of her unique looks. It is easily forgotten that even though the Underworld rises at night, they still stalk the shadows in the day, identifying their prey like a cheetah in the African savannah.

I sighed and rose from the chair, pulling my trench coat off and loosening my tie. I walked into my bathroom to bathe all the blood off me, both physically and mentally. Standing under the shower, I let the water soak through my fiery red hair. I grabbed the soap and scrubbed at myself, the water running brown and red into the tub, the blood and gore I had accumulated that night flowing down into the plug hole. I stood under the shower for a while, relaxing under the steaming hot water. Finally I stepped out and dried myself with a towel. Stretching my arms and rolling my sore neck I walked into my bedroom and pulled on some sweatpants and a shirt. I looked down at myself, a smirk playing on my lips as I remembered once again that when I had _somehow _came back from the dead, I had come back as a much younger version of myself, around 24 or 25. The 'somehow' annoyed me. I felt it in my periphery, the presence that was always there in the back of my mind. It wasn't the animal that lurked inside me that I felt in my chest, a building pressure that grew when I became the masked vigilante. This presence was different, it didn't feel like it belonged to me, and when I focused on it for too long a blue haze took over my vision, and glowing images of a blue man warped in my mind. Another mystery for another day, I thought, accepting that my sudden reincarnation wasn't something I needed to dwell on just yet.

I got into bed, and before I could even register my exhaustion, I dropped into a deep and dreamless sleep

-Elena-

I sat on my sofa with my feet curled under me, listening to the sound of rain pounding against the window with my head lolled back against the wall behind me. My eyes burned and throbbed, they were red and sore from crying earlier. I had to phone in sick at work, there was no way I would be leaving my house after what happened. I put on my best fake flu voice, and coughed a few times into my mobile. Boss said to take as long as I wanted off, as I sure did sound poorly. I hated lying to him, it made me feel like a bad person.

Rorschach is alive. The thought jolts me out of my reverie, making me sit bolt upright on the sofa, breath coming out like a dog panting as I relived what had just happened for the thousandth time. I had already sat in a scalding bubble bath, scrubbing at myself where the thugs touched me. My leg ached from the shuddering impact of kicking the thug hard, and also from twisting it and grabbing it to... I choked someone. I could have KILLED someone. In fact, I know I killed someone because he said that the thug was dead. He. Rorschach. Because he was alive.

I sighed and looked at the clock on the wall. It was nearly midnight.

For some reason, a reason I could not fathom for the life of me, I wanted to go back out. The adrenaline that coursed through me when I was fighting gave me a rush no drug could. But of course, I couldn't go out. It would be stupid of me to risk it when I had almost been raped and nearly killed earlier.

I got up and looked at myself in the full length mirror. Other than my blotchy eyes and face, I didn't have any marks on me where I had been grabbed. I grumbled to myself and pinched at my stomach and arms. 'Let yourself get soft Ellie,' I thought.. I used to be lean and well-muscled, but years of slobbing around had made me weak. I was still slender but I wasn't well muscled. I was strong but I certainly didn't look it.

Upon looking at myself in the mirror, I decided I was going to get fit again. Dropping onto my stomach, I took one deep breath and began to do some press ups. They were surprisingly easy, and I managed to get to 20 before I felt fatigued. Picking myself up I did some squats, 20 then a 10 second break before another set of 20. After my half hour workout, I was drenched in sweat and physically shaking from exertion. After another quick shower I went into my bedroom to get ready for bed. As I reached down to the ground by my wardrobe to pick up a tank top, I noticed something. Under my bed, in a box covered in dust and grime due to being untouched for years was my mother's costume. She had two, one as a spare in case the one she wore got too dirty and blood stained.

I pulled the box out and blew the dust off the lid, revealing her entwined B and A insignia. I was shaking as I lifted the top and saw her mask. It was a simple mask, no fancy gadgets, just some sort of black matt polymer that was like a masquerade mask. I always loved my mother's mask. It was black, but along one side of it was an intricate swirling silver pattern that glimmered in the light. In a moment of complete craziness, I placed it on my face and tied it at the back, pulling some of my hair over the top of the tie to hide it.

The material moulded to my face like it had always been meant for me, the strong material sitting on my nose comfortably and snugly. I stood up, fingers tracing over the mask, following the swirling pattern that made it so beautiful and elegant. I sat down at my dressing table and started to apply dark kohl eye shadow, fanning it out until I had seductive smokey eyes. Next was thick eyeliner and mascara. I fluttered my lashes and pouted, the mask and the makeup making me feel like someone I was most definitely not.

Getting up, I looked back into the box. I pulled out her costume. I was a one piece suite, with long sleeves and long tight pants. She used to wear it with eye-wateringly high boots, the backs of the heels like a serrated blade. I was most definitely not going to try the suit on, my mother was the only person who could pull off something like that. Her body was bloody brilliant.

I laughed to myself and took off the mask, laying it back into the box before pushing it under my bed. I took off the makeup I had applied and stretched, muscles popping and aching. A sigh of contentment escaped my lips as I crawled into bed. My dreams that night were full of Rorschach and white swirling tendrils that entwined him, holding him still so he couldn't run away as I reached out with hungry, desperate hands.


End file.
